Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM),

(dī'ag-nos'tic stă-tis'ti-kăl man'yū-ăl men'tăl dis-or'dĕrz),

A system of classification, published by the American Psychiatric Association, which divides recognized mental disorders into clearly defined categories based on sets of objective criteria. Representing a majority view (rather than a consensus) of hundreds of contributors and consultants, DSM is widely recognized as a diagnostic standard and widely used for reporting, coding, and statistical purposes.

The first edition (1952), based on the sixth revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-6), was intended to promote uniformity in the naming and reporting of psychiatric disorders. It contained definitions of all named disorders, but no sets of diagnostic criteria. Although its classification of mental disorders showed the influence of freudian psychoanalysis, its nomenclature (for example, depressive reaction, anxiety reaction, schizophrenic reaction) reflected the theories of Adolf Meyer (1866-1950). The second edition (DSM-II, 1968) preserved the psychoanalytic orientation but dropped the "reaction" terminology. The third edition (DSM-III, 1980) abandoned much of the rigidly psychodynamic thinking of the earlier editions and, for the first time, provided explicit diagnostic criteria and introduced a multiaxial system whereby different aspects of a patient's condition could be separately assessed. Briefly stated, the axes are I, clinical disorders; II, personality disorders and mental retardation; III, general medical disorders; IV, psychosocial and environmental stressors; and V, overall level of functioning. A revised version of the third edition (DSM-IIIR, 1987) incorporated improvements and clarifications. The fourth edition (DSM-IV) appeared in May, 1994. It follows its two predecessors closely in general outline, and like them is coordinated with and partly derived from ICD-9. For many observers, the most significant change in DSM-IV is the renaming of the category formerly called Organic Mental Syndromes and Disorders as Delirium, Dementia, and Amnestic and Other Cognitive Disorders, a shift in terminology intended to avoid the implication that mental disorders in other categories are not organic.

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders

/Di·ag·nos·tic and Sta·tis·ti·cal Man·u·al of Men·tal Dis·or·ders/ (DSM) a categorical system of classification of mental disorders, published by the American Psychiatric Association, that delineates objective criteria to be used in diagnosis.

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)

a manual, published by the American Psychiatric Association, listing the official diagnostic classifications of mental disorders. The DSM recommends the use of a multiaxial evaluation system as a holistic diagnostic approach. It consists of five axes, each of which refers to a different class of information, including mental and physical data. Axes I and II include all of the mental disorders, classified broadly as clinical syndromes and personality disorders; axis III contains physical disorders and conditions; and axes IV and V provide a coded outline of supplemental information on psychosocial stressors and adaptive functioning, which is useful for planning individual treatment and predicting outcomes. Each of the classifications of the mental disorders contains a code that provides a reference to the WHO International Classification of Diseases and offers such useful diagnostic criteria as essential and associated features of the disorder, age at onset, course, impairment, complications, predisposing factors, prevalence, sex ratio, familial patterns, and differential diagnoses. DSM-IV is the fourth edition of the manual, published in 1994.

Di·ag·nos·tic and Sta·tis·ti·cal Man·u·al of Men·tal Dis·or·ders

(DSM) (dī-ăg-nos'tik stă-tis'ti-kăl man'yū-ăl men'tăl dis-ōr'dĕrz)

An American Psychiatric Association publication that classifies mental illnesses. Currently in its fourth edition (i.e., DSM-IV-TR), the manual provides health care practitioners with a comprehensive system for diagnosing mental illnesses based on specific ideational and behavioral symptoms.

Di·ag·nos·tic and Sta·tis·ti·cal Man·u·al of Men·tal Dis·or·ders

(dī-ăg-nos'tik stă-tis'ti-kăl man'yū-ăl men'tăl dis-ōr'dĕrz)

A system of classification, published by the American Psychiatric Association, which divides recognized mental disorders into clearly defined categories.

Although the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders series was designed primarily to assess psychopathology in persons with relatively normal intelligence and psychosocial functioning, earlier versions (Third Edition, Revised, 1987) listed an advisory subcommittee on mental retardation.

Check out the latest edition of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, and you will see that Kramer's vision of arbitrary medicalization has already come to pass.

Treatment seeking patients who meet criteria for alcohol dependence as defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - Fourth Edition (DSM-IV), will be candidates eligible for the study.

It is worth noting that "immigration" is included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (third edition, revised) (American Psychiatric Association, 1987) as an example of a psychosocial stressor to be included in the diagnostic Axis IV, severity of psychosocial stressors.

A research team at Albert-Ludwigs University in Freiberg, Germany, developed the interview approach for sleep disorders based on the latest Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), published by the American Psychiatric Association.

Somaxon intends to initiate a double-blind, randomized, multi-center Phase II/III clinical trial in 2005 for the use of oral nalmefene for the treatment of pathological gambling, a growing health concern that has been recognized in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders of the American Psychiatric Association since 1980.

The definition proposed by Rehabilitation Services Administration (1985) and the criteria established in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - Revised (1987) are explored to determine their implications for the identification process.

New categories should enter the guide, known as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), only if existing research convincingly documents their usefulness in identifying and treating patients, Pincus and his coauthors contend in the January AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRY.

Urschel's study of the HANDS Protocol will include 30 men and women, 18-65 years of age, who are dependant on methamphetamine, according to the criteria as defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - Fourth Edition (DSM-IV).

Somaxon intends to initiate a double-blind, randomized, multicenter Phase II/III clinical trial in 2005 for the use of oral nalmefene for the treatment of pathological gambling, a growing health concern that has been recognized in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders of the American Psychiatric Association since 1980.

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